2022 Champions Profile - Joshua Dawalt

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Tom Kessenich
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2022 Champions Profile - Joshua Dawalt

Post by Tom Kessenich » Thu Dec 22, 2022 3:00 pm

The Best Ball Cutline is one of the most contests we offer in the NFBC. Joshua Dawalt is a big fan and he literally puts his money on the line every year with the hope that he will cash in when it counts the most.

In 2022, he entered nine teams in the contest, and he pushed two of them to the final table with the $75,000 grand prize on the line. When the dust settled at the end of the season, Dawalt’s dream of a Cutline championship had come to fruition as he capped off a sterling season in the contest which saw him cash in six of his nine entries in Cutline.

“It absolutely felt surreal to win the Cutline,” Dawalt said. “I kept having to remind myself that this really happened. I knew I was good enough to win league titles but historically I had not made it close to the Championship Round so I was really just shooting for this. To win it all it all was a thought that quite honestly didn’t cross my mind until the last three weeks.”

It probably should have occurred to him given the season he had enjoyed in the NFBC in 2022.

He won three BestBall12 and Best Ball Double Up league titles last season and cashed in six of those formats in addition to cashing in six with of his Cutline entires. He won three Cutline league titles and finished second in three other leagues.

His championship team – DeWalt CL – ended the regular season in 67th place overall as he had seven teams that made the Championship Round. This team was eighth overall after the first round and he had two teams that advanced to the next round.

His title team moved up to seventh overall after the second round and he got another team through that was 11th overall. Heading into the final round, he then had two shots at the $75,000 grand prize. Needless to say, those final weeks of the season were filled with plenty of anxious moments.

“That was as nerve wracking a time as I've ever dealt with for that length of time in likely my entire life,” he said. “I either took the lead after Day 1 or 2 after Bo Bichette hit three home runs in a game.

“From there, I had the lead except for one weekend (the weekend before the last week). That almost made it harder as all I could do was go down. I kept having to tell myself, it would be OK if I lost the lead, and I should be happy just being there. But, when I did lose it for that weekend, I realized that wasn't working. By then, it was win it all or I was going to be depressed for having it and losing it.”

Fortunately, there was no losing the lead and no depression. Dawalt won the title and the only emotion left to enjoy was pure elation. As he looks back upon his championship season, Dawalt pointed to several preseason keys that laid the foundation for the success he ultimately enjoyed during the season.

“I've been thinking about this a lot, as I'm hoping to figure it out and repeat,” he said. “I do not think there was any one thing that I did, but the biggest change I made was I started researching much earlier listening to podcasts, reading articles and ‘The Process’ and ‘Baseball Forecaster.’

“I really tried to know the player pool this time. I also worked on spreadsheets that helped even with the two FAAB periods. Used to drive my wife nuts when she'd ask what I was doing, and I'd say, ‘Oh, just working on the spreadsheets.’

“Last year, I was in multiple Best Ball leagues with KC Cha, and it blew my mind how well he did. He not only won them all but would do so with a large margin. So, I looked at those drafts and noticed a few patterns. I looked at previous Cutline winners, as well, and saw a pattern with their drafts, as well. Mainly, being hitter heavy early on and loading up on boring, sure bets, that will give you lots of ABs and IPs on the backend.”

One thing Dawalt said he changed dramatically in this thing was adjusting from the Rototiserrie mindset to adapting more strongly to the Points-based format used in the Cutline, something he had not completely been doing before.

“I think what I did wrong in the past, and many do, is that I thought in terms of Roto rather than Points based, and to not worry about ERAs and WHIPs or Average,” he said. “Volume is better.”

And winning is the best. Dawalt knows that better than most, having taken down the competition and won the big prize. He’s been able to put some of that prize money to good use already.

“We added some to our kids’ college fund and splurged on a spring break beach trip for next spring,” he said. “The rest is going to pay off debt for finishing our basement, but this allows us to do something else now at the house. Not exactly exciting, but truly makes a huge difference.”
Tom Kessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich

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